The Crown Prince is just a bully.

The crown prince stood up, feeling guilty all of a sudden.

'Wait, am i feeling guilty? it's not like she's proven that she didn't kill the princess.' He thought.

As Helena continued to sob at her place, she tried harder to suppress her emotions. The memories of the past ringing on her mind, she opens her eyes as if she will suddenly forget all those events that resulted in her demise.

'this is nothing.' She repeatedly thought to herself as she stood up.

"Lady Helena, pardon my rude-" The crown prince apologizes, but in return, he was given a slap.

A hard one at that.

His highness eye's widened in shock.

"There's a limit to how insolent and a bully you can be your highness, stepping on my weak spot is not very noble of you." Helena grits her teeth.

She walked herself to the small table across the room and sat quietly.

'i deserved that.' The crown prince thought.

He composes himself and followed along her tracks, sitting in front of Helena. he says "You were right, it was not very noble of me to bully the daughter of Duke Enilde." he coughs. "Therefore i apologize for my rude behavior since you pledged yourself to prove your crime otherwise."

Helena bitterly chuckles. "So you're just apologizing for the sake of my trial?"

"Well should a crown prince apologize to a guilty criminal then?" He said with a blank expression.

He then calls for the butler and orders him to bring tea and snacks into his room.

"How about you lady? is there any particular sweets you want?"

"..." Helena shrugs him off.

"Go on." He ushered the butler to obey his orders before looking towards Helena once again.

The room was enveloped with silence after the butler head out. Helena with her eyes close tried her best to avoid any talk with the crown prince any further.

"An hour isn't enough to also repair the barriers you broke right?" He asks.

Helena sighs. 'such a talkative prince.'

"That's right, the amount of barriers you want me to fix would require me a whole day of mana. so it's best to return after a few day-"

"Then just stay tonight, return tomorrow evening." He said.

Helena flinched in anger. "Y-Your Highness, i don't intend to interrupt your business any further that i already have."

"Do you think i'll spout such irresponsible words if you did interrupt my work? if i allowed you to stay, then there's no reason to refuse me." He retaliated.

"But your highness." She inhaled deeply. "It's not appropriate for a lady like me to stay the night in your household, bad rumors could damage my reputation." She tries to desperately excuse herself.

The butler knocks on the door.

The butler and a few maids come in to provide tea and snacks before leaving once again.

"Then i'll just use the reason that you broke the palace's barriers, to avoid staining your reputation as a woman." he sips on his cup.

'Isn't that much worst?! this bastard!' She thought angrily.

"If you leave now, you will bring me more trouble as I've already informed my adviser about how i'll handle this issue. I don't have enough time to wait for you to return, don't you think this way is more convenient?" He boldly persuades Helena.

As the crown prince explained his intentions towards her, Helena had no choice but to surrender to his orders.

"Yes, i understand your highness. but please provide me a room, i don't wish to stay here any longer."

He chuckles. "I never said anything about staying in my room lady Helena?"

Helena face flushes red from embarrassment. "It's because you didn't specify enough! and you kept saying i'm seducing you earlier." She stood up.

"You are really loud."

'loud?! he's the one who kept initiating a conversation, now i'm loud?!' She seethes in anger.

She sat once again. "Pardon my rudeness."

"Eat."

"..." She stares back. "What?"

"i said eat, it's a virtue in the empire that a noble shouldn't waste food when offered."

"How righteous your highness." She smiles, but behind her smile she thought 'RIGHTEOUS MY ASS'

"Hmm seems you've adapted the life of being a noble very well." He brings another topic up.

As Helena felt irked for some time, she set her fears aside then glared at the crown prince. "I think we should refrain from needless conversations, we are not friends." she firmly said before taking a cup of tea and drinking it.

'Ah how hostile.' The crown prince thought.

He smirks. "Then i shall excuse myself, i have business to attend to. I'll tell my attendees along the way about providing you a room to rest." he stands up.

'Hmph finally.' She thought.

before the crown prince leaves the room, he looks back towards Helena and said. "Oh and i've sent a letter to your residence, i'll be responsible for sending you back."

she stands up. "No! there's no need. I can use spatial magic-"

"I doubt you can, you will use a day of mana, right? that distance for spatial magic might harm your body without the proper requirement of mana."

"But personally sending me home.. i don't think it's necessary for his highness to trouble himself."

He looks dumbfounded. "What? when did i say i'll escort you to your residence?"

She gasps. Another humiliation from the crown prince remarks.

"You just said so!"

"I said i'll be responsible. Meaning i'll provide you a carriage and a few knights to protect you along the way." He bluntly said.

Helena's face flushes red again. 'He keeps making me misunderstand!'

"I don't have the time to personally escort your lady-"

"NO! it was my fault for misunderstanding." Helena's fist balled from irritation.

The crown prince mouth curls into amusement. "Lady Helena really has a colorful imagination."

Helena throws a pillow to him, he quickly avoids it as he hurried to close the door behind him.

'DAMN CROWN PRINCE.' She seethes in anger. 'was he born just to agitate me? to kill me? UGH SO ANNOYING!!'

'Should i just kill him?' She thought. <- (Lost all reasons)

She deeply breathes in and out, "Inner peace." as she finally relaxed a little bit. She took a sip of tea and ate the sweets furiously.

"Just you wait. If i clear my name, i'll kick your royal ass." She said as she munches the food aggressively.

But as she ate alone on his room, she wondered about her situation.

'I still can't believe my spatial magic led me to the crown prince, there must be some reason why i've traveled here. I'm pretty sure i've never marked this place or have been in the crown prince's room before, so why? why did my spatial magic led me here?' She thought.

As she tried remembering all sorts of places that she's been before. The only place she could think of as the farthest marked location would be in the lake near the gates of the imperial palace. Since there was no way she would've marked a place with multiple barriers inside.

'Ugh i can't seem to arrive at an answer. I can't think of anything else than that.' She though, frustrated.

As she loses her graceful posture to slouch into the chair. Her eyes landed on the holy sword that was placed beside his bed.

'What is this gut feeling? i feel something off with this sword'

She stares at it intensively but to her dismay, she could not also explain why she felt something towards the holy sword.

"I must be insane, why am i thinking about a holy sword. That jerk must've irritated me so much that my brain isn't functioning properly." She sighs to herself.

She agrees to herself.

'should i take a walk? wait i think that won't do. I'm not an official guest, i might cause some bad rumors for myself.'

'That jerk of a crown prince might just take this opportunity to sentence me to life imprisonment.' She thought carefully. 'or worse, he might kill me.'

As she contemplated of what to do, she finally arrived to the decision to just wait for the informant who'll lead her to her own room during her stay. <- (lost all reasons once again)

At the exact moment, the informant did come and greeted Helena.

Helena follows the servant, with a few maids behind them following. The palace was quiet, there was no other visitor than her so she didn't meet anyone unexpected across the building. They finally arrived at her room and offered to help Helena to bathe, but she refused.

The servants finally left.

"ugh finally." Helena jumps to her bed. "depleted mana and depleted brain cells is bad for my health. I should rest early."

She closes her eyes.

The crown prince's face flashes through her mind, his blank face staring at her as if he was mocking her.

"UGH." She took a pillow and covered her head with it, as if it would help. "Let me sleep you damned prince!"